Keywords

US history, history, battle of the rosebud

Abstract

The Battle of the Rosebud, which took place on 17 June 1876, was the largest single engagement between the United States cavalry and Indian forces in the entire history of the American West. It was a fierce encounter that lasted about six hours and involved all together several thousand cavalrymen and Indian warriors. The outcome of the contest was highly significant because it turned back a major invasion of Indian territories and freed many warriors to engage another invading force under the command of George Armstrong Custer. This led to the destruction of Custer's command at the Battle of the Little Bighorn by a much superior enemy on 25 June 1876. One of the participants in the Rosebud encounter, Lieutenant Charles Morton, stated, with perhaps some exaggeration relating to the numbers of Indians engaged, that the conflict "was probably the greatest Indian battle in our history-some 1400 soldiers and friendly Indians against some 5000 hostiles." Because Custer's defeat took place only eight days after the Battle of the Rosebud, the earlier engagement has been largely overlooked and has not been given the attention it deserves